16. Daniel Ayala, Norwich City, Centre-Back, Age: 21

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Season Summary

A knee injury ruined Daniel Ayala's start to the season. He's a strong tackler but susceptible against pacey players. As evident when he couldn't deal with Jerome Thomas in a 2-1 win over West Bromwich Albion.

Current Status

A hamstring tear has ruled him out since February.

Forecast

Considering Ayala can tackle and pass, he will be a valuable player to most teams in Europe.

13. Gary Gardner, Aston Villa, Attacking Midfielder, Age: 19

Gary Gardner was the pick of the bunch at the NextGen Series, and for me, was the second best player at the tournament (behind Jean Marie Dongou, who was sensational).

I was very impressed that Gardner took over the game against the much vaunted Ajax side and scored a hat trick.

Current Status

Gardner was anonymous against Chelsea but he's still young. Once he becomes more familiar with senior football, he should turn out to be a solid player.

This is assuming the Gardner I watched at the NextGen Series replicates his form at senior level.

Forecast

With Aston Villa dragged into a relegation scrap, Alex McLeish under serious pressure and the sad news of Stiliyan Petrov's retirement (get better Stan), Gardner should feature in the next eight games.

8. Paul Pogba, Manchester United, Centre Midfielder, Age: 19

That's the situation between Paul Pogba and Manchester United. Now that I think about it, maybe the reason why he hasn't played that many games is because of his agent.

Why play Pogba when he might leave in the summer?

Current Status

Sky Sports reported that Pogba has agreed to sign a new contract in March, but it's now April and there has been no news confirming Sky's report.

One can only assume that contract negotiations fell through as usual.

Forecast

Clearly he shouldn't be playing in the reserves because he's good enough to play at a senior level.

When he has played, he has completed 95.3 percent of his 85 passes and completed 100 percent of his long passes.

I still need to see more before reaching a conclusion.

Regarding the possibility of moving to Juventus, does he want to play or earn a bit of extra cash?

Pogba signing for Juventus would be a stupid decision because he won't start in front of Andrea Pirlo, Arturo Vidal or Claudio Marchisio, who have been the engine room in Juve's unbeaten Serie A campaign.

If Juve do sign Pogba, they'll loan him out to a mid-tier Serie A side, Pogba plays excellently and Juve sell him for a profit.

Other Notes

Tom Cleverley has the ability but his injury issues will be a concern.

7. John Guidetti, Manchester City, Centre Forward, Age: 19

The large majority of experts took no note of John Guidetti's loan to Feyenoord.

Unless you're Guidetti's girlfriend, no-one expected him to score this many goals—19 goals and eight assists in 21 games.

Here is a teenager scoring goals for fun in front of De Kuip.

Current Status

I was more than impressed when he scored a hat trick against Ajax. I thought it was a nice gesture from Ronald Koeman to sub Guidetti off in the last minute, allowing him to receive a standing ovation.

Though against Waalwijk, Guidetti was sent off after receiving a second yellow card for taking his shirt off. 10 minutes later, Waalwijk equalised and Feyenoord dropped two points.

Two days ago, Koeman said Guidetti was too selfish, which is odd considering the Swede does have eight assists this season. Too selfish would be zero assists.

Forecast

I predict that Manchester City will hold an auction for Guidetti because they can make a substantial profit off his excellent season. Why bring him back to City when the forward line is already packed?

Assuming the £400 million from Etihad Airways is considered improper by UEFA, City will be under duress from the financial fair play rules.

Selling Guidetti, who is probably not going to start, for £15-20 million would be great business.

Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain is so explosive and so talented. Only the English would question if he deserves a place in the Euro 2012 squad.

If he was German, he would have already played 10 games for the national team.

Current Status

Arsène Wenger used to always give the excuse that his players were young and now that he has a precocious youngster, he doesn't start him every game.

Forecast

Chamberlain is the only player on this list that I know will set the league alight. He has world-class written all over him.

Other Notes

From what I've seen of Francis Coquelin, he could become a world-class defensive midfielder if he is given a chance in that position. In the Premier League, he has completed 27 tackles and intercepted the ball 15 times in return for only four fouls.

Jack Wilshere should return to his best next season.

Ryo Miyaichi has been threatening on the wings for Bolton Wanderers. Could be a good impact sub for Arsenal.

How about Joel Campbell on loan at Lorient? I watched him in a 2-1 loss to Marseille a few months ago and wasn't impressed. Haven't had the chance to see him regularly since.